Loom shuttle



Feb. 16, 1954 K. MASSEY ETAL 2,669,259

LOOM SHUTTLE Filed Sept. 29 1950 Inventors Attorneys 7 Patented Feb. 16, 1954 r LM7 SHUTTLE Kenneth'Mass'ey and Richard vernon Patchett, Spondon, near Derby, England, assignors to British Celanese Limited, a company of Great Britain Application September 29, 1950, Serial N 0. 187,494

and

pirn is mounted, is pivoted at its butt end near one end of the wooden body of the shuttle, in a slot forming a narrower extension of the cavity for accommodating the pirn. The butt is acted upon by a tongue return spring which serves to hold the tongue either in the working position or in a raised position for the changing'of the pirn. The spring occupies the rear end of the slot, and a forwardly extending limb of the spring passes beneath the butt of the tongue to press against either the lower surface of the butt as the tongue lies horizontally in theshuttle, or against the heel or end surface of the butt when the tongue is raised. It is an object of the present invention to provide, in a shuttle, an improved arrangement Of the shuttle tongue and shuttle tongue return spring, having certain advantages over the arrangement hitherto used.

According to the present invention a loom shuttle comprises a pivoted tongue for the reception of a weft package, and a spring adapted to exert pressure on the lower face of the butt of said tongue for maintaining said tongue in a working position and on the heel of said butt for maintaining said tongue in a raised position, every part of said spring whose resilience contributes to said pressure being disposed substantially wholly beneath said butt when said tongue is in the working position. This arrangement has the advantage that the tonguereturn spring does not take up any part of the length of the shuttle that is not already occupied by the butt of the tongue and so enables the pivot of the tongue to be disposed nearer the end of the shuttle and permits the length of the slot (measured in the direction of the length of the shuttle) to be reduced. This leaves a greater proportion of the length of the shuttle available for the pirn' cavity, and enables a larger pirn to be accommodated.

The springs usually employed as the return springs for shuttle tongues are of the type that are bent through approximately 180, so having two limbs one of which engages the butt of the shuttle tongue while the other engages the body of the shuttle. A similar type of spring can be employed for the purposes of the present invention but it is preferred that the limbs of the spring should extend rearward, rather than forward as hitherto. The bend of the spring can then be hooked round the pin already provided 3 Claims. {(01. 139-208) Y 2 in the shuttle for limiting the downward movement of the tongue and determining the working position of the tongue in the shuttle. This make unnecessary the provision of a separate pin for the anchoring of the spring in the shuttle at a point to the rear of the shuttle tongue. An auxiliary spring, preferably constituting an extension of the spring disposed beneath the butt may be provided to exert an additional pressure on the heel of the butt when the tongue is in the working position and on the upper surface of the butt when the tongue is in the raised position. Such auxiliary spring or extension, however, since it extends in a direction transverse to the length of the shuttle, occupies only a negligible part of said length and does not substantially detract from the advantages above mentioned.

The slot in the wooden body of the shuttle, in which slot the tongue is pivoted, is liable to wear at the sides, thus allowing the tongue some lateral freedom and permitting the pirn to vibrate against the sides of the shuttle. This defect gives rise to weft breakages, and is more serious when a large and heavy weft package is employed. It is a further feature of the present invention, in order to overcome this defect, to provide an insert of harder material than the wood of which the shuttle body is made, forming a lining for the sides of the slot and laterally confining the butt of the shuttle tongue. In thisway, wear on the sides of the slot is reduced and the shuttle tongu is held firmly in the huttle. This insert can be made of mild steel but, to avoid increasing unduly the weight of the shuttle and disturbing the balance thereof, it is preferably made of a light alloy or even of a hard plastic material. The insert can be in the form of a deep channel-section member, the sides of which line the sides of the shuttle slot while the tongue return spring is accommodated in th bottom of the channel, beneath the butt of the tongue. The insert is held in place by the pins serving as the pivot and the limiting stops for the shuttle tongue.

By way of example, three forms of shuttle in accordance with the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of the end of one form of shuttle showing th arrangement for pivoting the tongue,

Figure 2 is a. sectional end elevation of the shuttle shown in Figure 1, and

alloy member 9 of deep channel section. The:- shuttle tongue I!) is of the usual form, having...

a shank of round section carrying an arcuate spring I2 extending downonesideithereofgfor holding in position a weft.packagez-slippedi.over;

Ther tongue: has: a" :butt

the end of the tongue.

I3 of rectangular section which fits within the side walls of the insert 9 lining the slot 8. A .pin. 14 passes transversely through the shuttle body 5, through the side walls of the insert-2 9;- and.

through the butt [3 of the tongue H1 at a point as-near': as (is .possible' to the .rearx'end -;of :therslot 8.- while-Jeaving the. heel I 5. of the butt room to swing as' the tongue Ill is pivoted. about. the pin. Mi

Near the .forward edge. of. the slot Bare two furthe-rpins l6; llpassing transversely. through the shuttle". and serving asstops to: determine the working position. and the raised .position re-- spectively ofthe tongue In. Roundthe. lower pin; 6 :15.:1100k6d the .bend .of a. V-shaped spring I8, the-limbs I9, 20 of which are .curved so asto beconvex towardseach other. andextendtowards the rear of the .shuttle. The limbs. of the spring arecompressed together instheaspace in thechannel-shaped. insert 9 beneath .the butt l3 of. the shuttle-tongue, so that the lower. limb l9: engages the bottom of the channel-shapedinsert, while the upper limb 20 engages the under.- sidetof: the butt l3. When the shuttle tongue l iswin the workingpositionthe-forward end. of its butt-l3-rests on-the-bend ofv the. spring [8. passing round the-lower pm Hi, while therearwardv endof. the buttis pressed upwards by the upper limb 20 of the-spring, so holdingthe. tongue I0 down in the. shuttle. The tongue canv be. lifted, for. changing-the weft package,.until the forward. end of the butt l3 engages the upper. stop. pin IT, at which time. the upper-.limb zfl. ozfathe-spring I i8 engages the heelrl' ofzthe .butt l3?to holdthe tongue Ii] in-the raised position.

The formofzshuttle shown in Figure 3 is -simi-- larto that of Figure. 1 exceptthat there isprovided antauxiliar-y" spring .21 similar. inshape to thespring l8 and hookedround an additionalv pin-.22.v The. heel of the butt..l3-' is .cut away obliquely. asat 24 andis en aged by thespring 2.1. when the tongue [0 is in the horizontal, or working. position, the pressure of" such engagement assisting the spring I8"in retaining" the tongue in' that position. Whenthe tongueraised into contact-"with the pin I T the spring 2-] presses on the upper surface-25 of the-butt l3 and assists the spring l8-=in retaining the 4 tongue 10 in the raised position. The provision of the auxiliary spring 2| enables the spring [8 to be of material of lighter gauge and less stiffness, and so less liable to breakage in use.

Figure 4 shows a third form of shuttle in which is provided an extension 26 of the lower limb l9 ofthe-spring H3. The extension 26 rises behindltheirheeli [5 of the butt i3- and presses upon it when the tongue is in the working position. The upper pin 21 which determines the raised. position of the tongue [0 is disposed a little further back than the corresponding pin i=1 iniFigures-t 1- andJB, so allowing the tongue lilto reacnamorenearly vertical position better suited: to' the-form of the spring extension 26. This modification-has the advantage of that of Figure. 3 and also. avoids the complication of providing a second spring 2| and an additional pinzl i Having described ourtfinvention, what we desire tmsecure -by Letters. Patent is:

1. A loom shuttle comprising pivoted-tongue for; the: reception of a. weft package, aspring adapted'to. exert a pressure on the lower. face of the :butt. of said tongue for maintaining said tongueinv a working jposition and. on the. heel of saidbutt for maintaining said. tongue-in-a raised position, every part oisaid springwhose resilience contributes to -said pressure beingdisposed: substantially wholly beneath said buttwhen :said tongue is'in the working position, said spring havingaportion adapted to exert an additional pressure on the heel of said butt when saidxtongue-is in the working position and on thelupper surfaceofsaid butt when said tongue isnin the 2 raised position.

2; A;.shuttle' according to claiml, in-whichrzthe springgis inthe form of a flat spring bentthrough approximately and hookecl'roundv antransverse= pin in the shuttle, the two'limbsof. said spring extending, rearwardly in the: shuttle: beneaththezbutt of the shuttle tongue.v

3:. Ashuttlg; according to claim 1, wherein said portion of said spring exerting, the additional. pressure on thezheel of said butt when said tongue is'-.in the: working position and-on the; upper 5111'?" face. ofsaidzbuttwhen said tongue 'isin thezraised. positionris: constituted by an extension of the spring.

KENNETH MASSEY. RICHARD VERNON PATCHETT.

References Citedin. the file of this patent- UNITED' STATES PATENTS Number.v Name Date" 748,920 Brun -JJan: '5; 1904" 778,851. Foerster' Jan. 3, 1905" 1,296,825 Liberty Marr'll', 1919 1385;962" Wood July'26; 1921 113931145" Liberty Oct: 11; 1921' .117611416 Steward June 3', 1930' 214041749 Schmidt July:23,.1946 

